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By Alice M. Hammel and Ryan M. Hourigan

While standing at the local superstore watching my children choose their colorful binders and pencils for the upcoming school year, I saw another family at the end of the aisle. Their two sons had great difficulty accessing the space because of the crowd and they were clearly over-stimulated by the sights and sounds of this tax-free weekend shopping day. One boy began crying and the other soon curled into a ball next to the packets of college-lined paper. My daughter, empathic to a fault, leaned down and offered her Blues Clues notebook in an effort to make the boy happier. When we finally walked away, I saw the same pain and embarrassment in the eyes of the parents that I have often seen at parent-teacher conferences and IEP meetings.

For many families, the start of a new school year is exciting and refreshing. The opportunity to see old friends, meet new ones, and the ease of settling into a fall routine can be comforting. For families of students with special needs, however, the start of a school year can be anxious, frustrating, and filled with reminders of the deficits (social and academic) of their children. This dichotomy is clear and present as some children bound off the school bus with their shiny new backpacks hanging from their shoulders, while others are assisted off different buses as their eyes and bodies prepare for what sometimes feels like an assault on their very personhood.

These differences are apparent to parents as well as teachers and administrators at schools. Professionals often ask: “What can we do to be the best teachers for these students?”

Consider what school can mean for students who are different and how to create ways to welcome everyone, according to their needs. Before the school year begins, these longstanding suggestions still resonate as best practices for parents and students:

(1) Contact the student before the school year begins to be sure the student and family are aware that you are genuinely looking forward to working with them and have exciting plans for the school year! Everyone learns differently and wants to be honored for their ability to contribute. In the Eye Illusion not everyone is able to see the changes in the dots as they move around the circle. What you see isn’t better or worse — just different. When we think of students and children in the same way, by removing the stigma of labels and considering the needs of all, we become more of a community and less of a hierarchy.

(2) Be aware of all students in the classes you teach. Know their areas of strength and challenge, and be prepared to adapt teaching strategies to include them. We cannot expect students and children all to be the same. Use a fable to illustrate that everyone has strengths and can become an integral part of the learning experience.

(3) Review teaching practices: modalities, colors, sizes, and pacing. All students enjoy learning through various modalities (visual, aural, kinesthetic), love colors in their classroom, appreciate sizing differences to assist with visual concepts, and can benefit from pacing that is more applicable to them. Find ways to include these practices in an overall approach. Universal design (applied to the classroom) means that all students receive adaptations to enhance their learning experience, and no one is singled out as being different because of the adaptations applied.

(4) Create partnerships with all professionals who work with special needs students. A team approach is a powerful way to include everyone effectively. When we work as a team, everyone benefits and the workload is shared by all. This community of professionals creates a culture of shared responsibility and joy.

(5) Provide a clear line of communication with parents of students with disabilities. Often children cannot come home and tell their parents about events, assignments, announcements, and other important parts of their school day. Parents may not be able to gauge whether their child had a good day or if there are concerns. A journal between teacher and parent(s) can be a comforting and useful tool. This communication may also be done electronically through a secure Google or Yahoo group. Reading Rockets provides other useful tips in this area.

(6) Leave labels out of the conversation when communicating with parents. Parents can be sensitive to their child being known only by their diagnosis. In addition, some parents may be still processing the life change that comes with raising a child with special needs. When entering into a conversation with a parent, focus on your classroom and the needs of the student. If there is a concern, try to put the concern in the most positive light as possible. The Parent-Provider network at Purdue University offers some great tips as well for communicating with parents.

(7) Let parents know of student accomplishments even if they are small. Students with special needs often encounter failure. Parents attend countless meetings that remind them of all the challenges their children face. A note home when something goes well can make all the difference.

(8) Allow the parent and the child to visit prior to the start of school if the child is new. Students who are enrolling in a new program or a new school may have difficulty with this transition. Often this transition can cause anxiety that will hinder a child from seeing school as a comfortable, safe place. Walk them through the routines: where they sit, where materials are, etc. Social stories (short stories written in third person to illustrate an everyday situation) can also be useful in this circumstance. When read prior to beginning school, these stories help them move through their transition.

A culture of acceptance and compassion must permeate our educational institutions. By categorizing, labeling, and noting differences, we are often putting children in boxes that can then, unfortunately, define them for the rest of their lives. Every child wants to be part of the school experience and seeks to participate to the best of his ability. When the class and school culture are created to honor the personhood of every child, and each child is considered valuable to the success of every school experience, all children begin to enjoy the same childhood experiences.

Alice M. Hammel and Ryan M. Hourigan are the authors of Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Label-Free Approach. Alice Hammel teaches for James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth Universities, and has years of experience teaching instrumental and choral music. Ryan Hourigan is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Ball State University and a recipient of the Outstanding University Music Educator Award from the Indiana Music Educators Association. The companion website to Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs provides more resources.

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Image credit: Having fun in a music class. Photo by SolStock, iStockphoto.

Random House has teamed up with Politico to create a series of four instant eBooks about the 2012 presidential election.  The series (currently untitled) will only be available in digital format.

According to The New York Times, the first title will be released sometime before Christmas. They will be co-authored by the political news site’s chief White House correspondent Mike Allen and Princeton University journalism professor Evan Thomas. Allen’s writing can be regularly viewed on Politico’s Playbook and Thomas has worked as a political journalist for both Time magazine and Newsweek. Executive editor Jon Meacham will edit the series.

Here’s more from the release: “[The four eBooks] will give readers an unprecedented look behind the scenes of the election in real time, providing detail, color, in-depth analysis beyond the hourly headlines and commentary, and ultimately a look at the final results, and how and why it all happened … Each book will include exclusive reporting from the campaign trail and will chronicle the campaign as it unfolds.” (via Publishers Weekly)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Penguin Group (USA) has partnered with the online BlogHer community to create a book club. Sassymonkey Reads blogger/BlogHer contributing editor Karen Ballum will host.

According to Book Business Magazine, the book club will average two titles per month. Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks is the first pick. Participants will enjoy special book club features such as live chats, behind-the-scenes looks at the researching and writing process, and writing tips.

The article has this quote from Penguin Group (USA) president Susan Petersen Kennedy: “The BlogHer community is smart, opinionated, and influential—in other words, the perfect match for our authors and books. I’m looking forward to creating a forum in which women can discuss books, speak with authors, and grow as writers.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Guest blogger Yury Polnar is the Marketing Acquisitions Manager at Demand Media, an online community of freelance writers and copy editors that creates informative articles for popular websites like LIVESTRONG.com, eHow.com and many others.

Last December, more than 4,000 Demand Media freelance writers and copy editors put their fingers to keyboards around the country and kept busy writing for a cause. For every eight articles created that month, Demand Media agreed to donate one book to a child in need. And in the span of just one month, this talented and passionate group of writers and editors created enough articles to put 16,072 brand new books in the hands of thousands of children across the country!

Today, I’m happy to announce a two-week return of the “Write for a Cause” program. In partnership with First Book, we hope to help rewrite the future for thousands of underprivileged kids and empower the next generation of writers, editors, business owners and space explorers to reach the stars through adequate access to literature and other educational resources.

For more information about First Book’s partnership with Demand Media and how you can help, please click here. And to monitor the progress of this campaign, please visit the Write for a Cause Facebook page.

Manuel Ramos



TRINIDAD SÁNCHEZ, JR. MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
Regina Chávez y Sánchez has established a foundation in the name of the late poet, Trinidad Sánchez, Jr. A promotional flyer announces that several of Sánchez's books are available including Why Am I So Brown?, Jalapeño Blues, Poems by Father & Son, Compartiendo de la Nada, and Authentic Mexican Food is HOT! She notes that she is working on several unpublished manuscripts, developing a scholarship in Trinidad's name, and that she wants everyone to know her husband's "words and wisdom." You can get on her mailing list by contacting her at [email protected], or writing to her at 827 Park Avenue West, Suite 203, Denver, CO 80205.


WORDS & MUSIC: A LITERARY FEAST IN NEW ORLEANS
Words & Music, 2007, opens November 14 and runs through November 18. The overall theme for 2007 is When Cultures Collide: The Fallout for Life and Literature. This event always features a stellar list of writers and on that list this year are Loida Maritza Pérez and Marie Arana. Pérez, a native of the Dominican Republic, is author of Geographies of Home (Viking, 1999). Arana, originally from Peru, is Editor of The Washington Post's review section Book World, and author of the novel Cellophane (Dial Press, 2006 ) and the memoir American Chica (Dial Press, 2001). For more about this event, click here.


MARTIN LIMÓN
Martin Limón continues his appearances in support of his latest Sueño and Bascom military whodunit, The Wandering Ghost (Soho Crime, 2007). He will read and sign at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ (James Doss is also on the program), on November 14 at 7:00 P.M., 4014 N. Goldwater Blvd., Suite 101; Murder by the Book, 2342 Bissonnet, Houston, TX, on November 15 at 6:30 P.M.; The Mystery Bookstore, 1036-C Broxton Avenue, Los Angeles, November 16 at 7:00 P.M.; and M is for Mystery, November 17, 1:30 P.M., 86 East Third Ave., San Mateo, CA.


Here's an announcement about a new book:
"FOCUS ON THE FABULOUS ... features 33 GLBT people as they write about life, love and living in Colorado. Edited by established author Matt Kailey and published by Johnson Books, the anthology was among the Denver area's top five of the September 2007 best seller list of nonfiction paperback books. Titled Two Militants Who Just Wouldn't Shut Up, the essay by Donaciano Martinez is partly about growing up in an anti-Chicano and anti-gay town and partly about the Colorado Springs Gay Liberation Front that was co-founded by Martinez and Truman Harris shortly after the 1969 Stonewall riots that marked the second wave of the battle against gay oppression."

Another press blurb:
"TINY TIM IS DEAD will be staged at 7:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday from November 23 through January 5 at the nonprofit Theatre Group's Phoenix Theater, 1124 Santa Fe Drive in Denver. Written by Barbara Lebow, the play is described as wickedly amusing and delicately poignant as it ventures into the world of urban street people whose shelter is made of cardboard boxes and trash-can hearths. Among the homeless characters are: Otis Pope, an Army veteran who decides who can stay and who must leave the shelter; Verna, a disoriented and sometimes child-like woman; Verna's nameless and mute young son; Charlie, an unemployed blue collar worker; Azalee Hodge, an outspoken woman trying to climb back up; and, Filomeno Cordero, an immigrant from Central America. Discovering a worn-out copy of Charles Dickens' book A Christmas Carol, the group responds to Verna's pleas to re-enact the old story as a gift for her son. Verna cannot wait to play the part of Tiny Tim, while Pope is cast in the Scrooge role. In a revisionist inspiration, Pope becomes MC of the Tiny Tim Telethon. Unfamiliar with the Dickens' story, Filomeno mistakes the book's Marley character for reggae music star Bob Marley. The role of Verna is played by Shelly Bordas. Tickets are $22 per person, with $17 discount tickets for seniors, students and groups of ten or more."

STORIES ON STAGE presents Masterpieces of Science Fiction on November 15, 7:00 P.M., Jones Theater, DCPA. Among the featured authors are Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Neil Gaiman. Presenters include Gabriella Cavallero.

A movie note: I was lucky enough to see the opening film at the Denver Starz Film Festival last night. The Savages was directed by Tamara Jenkins and stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and Philip Bosco. This is an excellent movie. Hoffman and Linney are thoroughly convincing as the siblings who are forced to deal with their dying, demented father, whom they have avoided for years. And Bosco's take on the father is unsettling because his character is all too-familiar, too close for comfort. The story avoids easy sentimentality and glib moralizing but it does deal with core issues: the "inconvenience" of death, responsibility to our own, and rediscovering the solid comfort of our own life's potential at the same time that we recognize its fleeting nature. The main characters are writers: Linney (Wendy) is an unsuccessful playwright filled with guilt, some of which centers around the stories she tries to tell, stories that she herself labels as self-absorbed and middle-class; while her brother, Jon, who has achieved a certain amount of respectability as a drama professor and critic, is unable to commit to the idea of love. They are very different human beings who eventually must recognize their commonalities. Although this is not a happy movie, we get a glimpse of the spark of humanity that we all want to see in one another. There isn't a Latino in sight, which always makes me shake my head, but I still recommend the film.

That's all for a very busy week.

Later.